10 Biggest GREEN LANTERN SURPRISES of All Time

<i>by Vaneta Rogers</i>
<p>This week's issue of <b>Green Lantern</b> offered a <a href=http://www.newsarama.com/comics/green-lantern-covers-revealed-110713.html>pretty big surprise</a> for fans of the franchise.
<p>After years of villainy and dirty deeds against the Green Lantern Corps, Sinestro has been given a green power ring and will now replace Hal Jordan as a member of the Corps.
<p>The change comes at the end of the "War of the Green Lanterns" storyline but is even more of a surprise because it will kick off the new <b>Green Lantern #1</b> in September.
<p>As DC works to launch the new title and attract new readers, the 'DCnU' will feature one less icon in the form of a de-commissioned Hal Jordan, with Sinestro serving in the title role.
<p>But this isn't the first time the Green Lantern franchise has surprised fans. In fact, there have been so many surprises over the year, we struggled a bit to pare our list down to 10. It was tough to let go of some we had to cut.
<p>But without further ado, click on the "<b>Star Here</b>" button for our countdown of the 10 Biggest Surprises in Green Lantern History.
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SINESTRO HAS A DAUGHTER

When Soranik Natu was introduced in 2005 as a new cast member for <i>Green Lantern Corps: Recharge</i>, her role seemed pretty obvious. She's a strong female character who could not only hold her own during a heated space battle, but is smart enough to have been a neurosurgeon on her home planet.
<p>Throw in a little love interest for Kyle Rayner and voila! She's a tailor-made strong female for the team (although her association with Kyle <i>does</i> tend to put her chance for survival at risk).
<p>But Soranik's presence on the Corps became a little more important when, in <i>Green Lantern Corps #35</i>, Sinestro revealed that she was his daughter.
<p>Wha... huh?
<p>OK, it's pretty disgusting to think the pure-hearted Soranik, who has always despised Sinestro, now has to call him "Dad." But what's even more disgusting is to think her mom actually <i>liked</i> Sinestro enough to... bleeeagh!
<p>And how lucky for her Soranik: Now that Sinestro is back on the Corps, she gets to work alongside Daddy!

GUY GARDNER REVIVED FOR THE CRISIS

After serving as a "back-up" Green Lantern to Hal Jordan for a while, Guy Gardner was trapped in the Phantom Zone, eventually emerging with brain damage that left him in a coma for years.
<p>The back-up seemed to become a forgotten element of Green Lantern, as John Stewart and Hal Jordan dominated the comics.
<p>But during <i>Crisis on Infinite Earths</i>, Green Lantern fans got a huge surprise when a group of Guardians suddenly decided to revive Guy Gardner and give him a special mission. The resulting storyline had him clashing with others, since his brain damage had a negative effect.
<p>But Guy's surprise return ended up bringing him back into the Green Lantern fold, eventually leading to his feature role in the Justice League International, and his status as a beloved DC character.

SINESTRO SERVES THE ANTI-MONITOR

The last page of the <i>Sinestro Corps Special #1</i> was probably one of the biggest surprises in recent Green Lantern history. All the big guns who were teaming with Sinestro on his yellow ring-wearing corps had a leader who was a shocker.
<p>A shockwave went flying across the Internet. The Anti-Monitor? <i>Really?</i>
<p>The success of that surprise and the huge second- and third-printing sales that resulted from word of mouth about the Sinestro Corps War led to one of the most successful events in Green Lantern history. The sales boost from that event -- with its powerful and shocking Anti-Monitor nemesis -- was an important part of why Green Lantern remains a leading comic book franchise.

HAL QUITS

In the 1970s, Hal Jordan had a couple "back-up" Green Lanterns in Guy Gardner and John Stewart, but few people actually thought those two would be needed as full-time replacements for Hal Jordan.
<p>So imagine the shock when readers saw the now iconic cover to <i>Green Lantern #181</i> where Hal Jordan yells, "I QUIT!" and throws away his ring.
<p>The cover wasn't kidding. Not only did Hal quit, but the Guardians gave his position and ring to John Stewart right before the start of the mega-event <i>Crisis on Infinite Earths</i>.
<p>Although Hal soon returned to his role as a Green Lantern, the service of John Stewart in the '80s made him one of the more respected characters among DC's diverse slate of heroes.

ARISIA GROWS UP ... FAST

It's a bit of a sticking point for many Green Lantern fans, but there's no doubt it was a surprise when it happened.
<p>The Green Lantern named Arisia, who was depicted as a teenager when she was recruited into the Corps, was allegedly able to subconsciously use her power ring to age herself so that she could woo Hal Jordan.
<p>For years, readers thought it was kind of creepy that Hal had later dated Arisia -- even if she did get "aged" by the ring -- because she didn't <i>really</i> age herself. But <i>Green Lantern #13</i> (Volume 4) set things straight, explaining that Arisia was actually much older when she joined the Corps. It turns out that her home planet has an elongated orbit around two suns, so 13 years old there is like 240 on Earth.
<p>Still, it was a bit of a surprise to see a teenager become a woman so quickly thanks to the power of the ring. Talk about willpower.

THE GUARDIANS VOTE TO EXECUTE SINESTRO

After multiple comic stories where Sinestro would try to take down the Green Lantern Corps, but be stopped by Hal Jordan, the Guardians of the Universe finally made a surprise move.
<p>They decided to kill him.
<p>No, not just kill him in battle, but <i>execute</i> him. Didn't even offer him a blindfold or a cigarette, the poor chap.
<p>Sure, the execution idea was repeated some years later, but the first time it happened, this was pretty heavy stuff. And the execution was actually a success, taking place right there on the comics page -- Hal and a group of Green Lanterns all fired their green energy into Sinestro, killing him. Killowog pronounced him dead.
<p>Of course, as he was dying, the villainous Sinestro screamed, "You will all pay!"
<p>And he was right. What followed was a chain reaction that nearly destroyed the Corps.
<p>Silly Guardians. You can't keep a Korugian down.

KATMA TUI DIES

Katma Tui was around for decades, even standing up to Sinestro on their home planet, before she got involved with John Stewart. But it was through training him that she ended up falling in love. The two were married, and Katma ends up on Earth.
<p>But just when domestic bliss seemed to be her future, Star Sapphire comes into Katma's kitchen and kills her.
<p>There's just something about kitchens and ladies who love Lanterns. (Yes, we'll get to that... keep reading.)

Ch'p GETS RUN OVER BY YELLOW TRUCK

Love him or laugh at him, the Green Lantern Corps member named Ch'p was once as well known among readers as any GL. The fuzzy little Lantern (from the nut gathering planet of H'lven) had a pretty well-developed back-story and showed up in the big battles as a leading member of the Corps.
<p>So imagine readers' surprise when Ch'p was suddenly killed...
<p>... not in battle...
<p>... not by a rogue Lantern...
<p>...but by a big yellow truck.
<p>Ouch.
<p>That ineffectiveness against yellow sure was a problem when a Corps member just wanted to cross the street.
<p>(And there's a road kill joke in there somewhere, but out of respect for Ch'p, we'll let that one go.)

ALEX DeWITT KILLED BY MAJOR FORCE

This was one of those surprises that took on a life of its own.
<p>When Kyle Rayner is given a Green Lantern ring, he's got a steady girlfriend named Alex DeWitt. But the supervillain Major Force kills her in a surprise move that most fans still remember today.
<p>But the shock of the death of Alex was not just related to it being unexpected. It was the brutality of the act that surprised readers. After all, she was strangled and her body was stuffed into the refrigerator for Kyle to later find.
<p>Because of the shocking violence behind Alex's death and disposal, some readers began to decry the trend toward using female characters as convenient targets for shocking deaths. In fact, writer Gail Simone used Alex's example to coin the phrase "Women in Refrigerators," which comic readers still use today when referencing questionable disposal of female characters.

PARALLAX SURPRISES

Ever since the Green Lantern storyline known as "Emerald Twilight," where Hal Jordan goes off the deep end and starts calling himself "Parallax," the name has been associated with several big surprises.
<p>In fact, what resulted from the Emerald Twilight story was a series of surprises that could probably all stand on their own in this list, but we've grouped them here to make room for more.
<p>First, Hal goes off the deep end, fights other Lanterns, takes their rings and even kills a few for good measure, including beloved Kilowog. That crisis is diverted, but then...
<p>Wearing the name Parallax, Hal Jordan dies by sacrificing his own life to reignite the sun. And if that wasn't enough of a shocker...
<p>Hal Jordan becomes the Spectre.
<p>Last but not least, readers got another Parallax-related surprised years later in <i>Green Lantern: Rebirth</i>. Parallax was actually a giant entity that embodied the yellow emotion of fear. And <i>that's</i> why Green Lantern rings used to be ineffective against yellow.
<p>Add the Sinestro Corps, the other entities and the possession of other Green Lanterns by Parallax and you've got a surprise that just won't go away. Let's hope Sinestro and his new friends the Guardians remember just how persistent Parallax can be.
<p>See Also: <a href=http://www.newsarama.com/comics/dcnu-10-biggest-surprises-110612.html><b>The 10 BIGGEST SURPRISES of the Rebooted DCnU</b></a>